Vehicle coupling



Aug' 18, 1936- v c. GRAHAM 2,051,522

` VEHICLE COUPLING Filed'oct. 25, 1954 3 sheetssheet 2 4 Inventor I @'/lgra/zam L f/M l 1 B1 Qmamh Home y Patented Aug. 18, 1936 UNITED STATESlPATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

My invention relates generally to means for coupling vehicles in trains,and particularly to coupling means of this character involving means toautomatically apply the brakes of the trailing vehicle or vehicles whenthe trailing vehicle or vehicles crowds forwardly toward the leadingvehicle, so as to retard the trailing vehicle or vehicles and therebyeliminate a major portion of the forward strain and thrust which isordinarily exerted by the trailing vehicle or vehicles when the leadingvehicle is slowed down or the train is descending a hill.

It is also an important object of my invention to provide a coupling ofthe character indicated involving a hydraulic brakingarrangement whichis automatically operated by unusual forward thrust of the trailingvehicle or vehicles toward the leading vehicle.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from areading of the following description in connection with the drawings,whereinfor purposesof illustration I have shown a preferred embodimentof my invention.

Figure 1 is a top plan view showing a rear portion of the leading ortractor vehicle and a forward portion of the trailing vehicle, showingthe same coupled in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the portion of a coupling which iscarried by the leading vehicle or tractor.

Figure 4 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view through Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a transverse vertical sectional view through the left handportion of Figure 4.

While for illustrative purposes the invention is shown her'ein asapplied to a coup type of automobile in conjunction with a trucktrailer, it will be understood that the invention is equally applicableto the coupling of cars and locomotives of railway trains, the tractorand trailing. machinery of powered farm implements, and to other similaruses.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral 5 refers generally to acoup type of automobile having at the rear thereof the platform 6 onwhich rests vthe metallic base 1 having in the upper surface thereof apair of longitudinal parallel ball bearing holding grooves 8, 9,respectively, in each of which is arranged a longitudinal series of ballbearings I0 which are received in similarly disposed grooves II, I2,respectively, in the underside of a heavy metallic rectangular slide I3which is confined slidably in place on the ball bearings and on the base1 by L-shaped retainers i4, I5, respectively, each of which is composedof the vertical wall I3. and the inwardly directed flange portion I1both connected together and held to the base 1 by means of the bolts I3.In the forward part of the plate slide I3 are'holes I3, I9 whichregister with correspondingly spaced holes in the base 1 so as toaccom'- modate pins which hold the slide I3 in a rearwardly retractedposition so as to prevent inadvertent forward sliding of the slide I3and unwanted application of the brakes therebywhen the device of theinvention is not in use.

On the base 1 at the outside of each one of the retaining members I4, I5is attached a shock absorber 22, 23 respectively, winch has its armsuitably connected to the slide I3.as indicated at 24, 25 to check theforward and/or rearward movement of the slide so as to preventuncontrolled movement thereof.

A spring 26 anchored as indicated at 21 to the rear part of the base 1has its forward end connected to the switch arm 23 of a stop lightswitch 29 which is mounted on the slide I3, so that the switch will beclosed when the slide I3 moves forwardly in the brake applyingdirection. Suitable electrical connections (not shown) are made tu theswitch 29 for operating a suitable stop signal which may be mountedeither on the tractor or leading vehicle or on the trailer.'

At a central location on the top of the slide I3 there is bolted asindicated at 30 the lower hemispherical half 3| of the ball and socketconnection which is generally designated 32. The upper hemisphericalhalf 33 is connected to the lower half so as to confine therein the ball34 on the lower end of the tubular shaft 35 which projects through anopening in the upper hemispherical half 32 as shown in Figure 4. Theupper part of the shaft 35 is hollow as indicated at 36 forming a socketto receive the pin 31 on the front end of the trailer, thereby affordingdraft connection between the trailer and the automobile 5.

Mounted on the base 1 forwardly of the slide I3 and its retainers andlocated on approximately the longitudinal center of the base 1 is thehydraulic cylinder 38 in which works the piston 39 fixed on the forwardend of the piston rod 40 which has its rear end received in a notch 4Iin the front edge of the slide I3 and pivotally held therein by theremovable pivot pin 42 which traverses the sides of the slot 4I and therear end of the piston rod 40. By this arrangement forward movement ofthe slide il will cause compression oi' the' brake fluid within thecylinder Il and forwardly of the piston Il. As shown the cylinder 3l isheld in place by a strap or band 4l which is connected to the base I bymeans of bolts having finger nuts N. thereby enabling easilydisconnecting the cylinder Il from the base 1, upon withdrawal of thepivot pin l2, whereby the cylinder 38, the piston rod 4l and the brakefluid conduits may be removed from the automobile and stored on thetrailer when the device of the invention is not in use andthe trailer isdisconnected from the tractor or automobile.

-The trailer which is generally designated l5 may be of any lsuitabletype having a pair 'of ground engaging wheels 40 including hydraulicbrakes 4l from which lead brake fluid conduits Il which connect to'opposite ends of the junction conduit I9 from which leads the rubberpipe 60 which reaches forwardly and has a lateral. portion 5i connectedto the front end of the brake applying cylinder 38 as shown in Figures land 3. -The rear end or intake end of the cylinder 38 receives its fluidfrom the rubber pipe 52 which leads therefrom to the iiuid reservoir 53which is rotatably mounted by bands N on a forward part of the trailer.Because the reservoir 53 is rotatably mounted on the trailer, thestoring of the cylinder 3l on the trailer is facilitated, since removalof the cylinder and the'rubber pipes El, 52 and 60 from the automobileis madethereby possible without disconnecting any of the pipes oraffecting the connections thereof. A suitable check valve 55 isinterposed in the pipe 52. -Inasmuch as the hydraulio brakes concernedare of any conventional type as far as the present yinvention isconcerned, no detailed illustration or description thereof is believednecessary. A

It winbe obvious that when the trailer 4s pushes forwardly relative' tothe automobile i, as will take place when theA automobile 5 is sloweddown or the train is descending a hill,

that the slide i3 will be correspondingly urged forwardly against theresistance of the shock absorbers 22, 23, and this movement will betransmitted to the piston rod 40 and the piston I9 within the cylinder38 so as to compress the brake fluid in the forward part of thiscylinder and cause the same move under pressure' through the pipe Il tovthe brakes 41 the" "1' wheels of the trailer, and thereby retard thetrailer and relieve the tractor or automobile of the forward thrust fromthe trailer.' 'I'he shock absorbers prevent the slide I3 from moving tooviolently and too far forwardly or rearwardly or at too great a speed.Of course, the ends ofv the grooves in the base and in the slide operatein conjunction with the ball bearings to limit extreme forward andextreme rearward movement of the slide. Y

Although I have shown and described herein a preferred embodiment of myinvention, it is to be definitely understood that I do not desire tolimit the application of the invention thereto, and any change orchanges may be made in materials, and in structure and arrangement ofparts, within the spirit of 'the invention and the scope of thesubjolned claims.

What is claimed is:-

1. In combination with a tractor and a trailer, the trailer includingbrakes, longitudinally extending guideways in the rear part of thetractor, a member slidably supported in the guideways, a post, auniversal Iioint connecting the post with the sliding member, means forconnecting the post to the front end of the trailer, means for applyingthe brakes of the trailer by forward movement of the sliding member andmeans for holding the sliding member against movement and in itsrearmost position when desired.

2. In combination with a tractor and a trailer, said trailer includingwheels having hydraulic brakes, longitudinally extending guideways inthe tractor, a member slidably arranged in said guideways, a post, auniversal joint connecting the post with the sliding member, means forconnecting the 'front end of the trailer to the p'ost, a cylinder in thetractor containing fluid, a piston in the cylinder, a rod connecting thepiston with the front end of the slide member, conduits connecting thecylinder with the brakes of the trailer, whereby forward movement of thesliding member will apply the brakes and shock absorbers for checkingthe forward movement of the slide member.v

CHARLEY LAURENCE GRAHAM,

